The invention relates to an agricultural harvesting machine, in particular a self-propelled forage harvester comprising at least one working assembly for processing a crop stream and a discharge accelerator for the processed crop.
Agricultural harvesting machines such as self-propelled forage harvesters, in particular, typically comprise a “so-called” discharge accelerator, which is also referred to as a post-accelerator. This discharge accelerator is used to accelerate crop that has been processed by working assemblies (e.g., the intake conveyor and compression mechanism, the chopping assembly, the conditioning device, without limitation) and moves the crop through the machine along a flow path in the form of a continuous crop stream. The speed of the crop stream ensures that the crop will be reliably discharged through a so-called upper discharge chute of the machine. Given that the function of the discharge accelerator is to accelerate the crop to a speed sufficiently high enough to ensure discharge thereof, this discharge accelerator is usually disposed behind the working assemblies processing the crop (with respect to the direction of flow of the crop), i.e., is positioned downstream thereof.
Increasing crop throughputs and increasing desired discharge distances result in a high amount of wear, in particular on the components of the discharge accelerator that come into frictional contact with crop flowing past. Machine components that adjoin the discharge accelerator in the direction of crop flow, such as wearing plates in the conveyor chute (also referred to as the “tower”), also are subject to great wear due to the contact with accelerated crop. For these reasons, and very generally for purposes of maintenance and repair, it may be necessary to access the affected components. In forage harvesters currently available on the market, a relatively great deal of effort is required to access components of the discharge accelerator and/or the conveyor chute adjacent thereto for purposes of repair or maintenance, including replacing the aforementioned components.
In conventional designs of forage harvesters, the discharge accelerator is indeed accessible from a maintenance space located behind the driver's cab. However, the space in this maintenance space is highly limited. Any service or maintenance work that becomes necessary is therefore made difficult and more time-consuming due to the small amount of space that is available, thereby increasing costs. Risks of injury that are not inconsiderable arise due to the unfavorable spatial conditions. In order to completely remove a post-accelerator, it is currently necessary to first partially disassemble the post-accelerator into the components thereof, which requires a great deal of work.